Aisling And The City By Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen

‘Aisling And The City’ is the fourth book in the ‘Aisling’ series and is also the winner of the Popular Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards 2021.

With her cafe BallyGoBrunch flying and the door firmly closed on her relationship with boyfriend John, Aisling accepts an unexpected job offer and boards a business-class flight to New York in her best wrap dress and heels. As she finds her feet in the Big Apple, she throws herself into the dating game, grapples with ‘always-on’ work culture, forges and fights for new friendships and brings her good wedges to a party in the Hamptons, much to her friend, Sadhbh’s, dismay. But catching up with family and friends on WhatsApp and email is not the same as sitting in Maguire’s putting the world to rights over mini bottles of Pinot Greej and a shared bag of Taytos. And yet New York has so much to offer, not least in the fireman department.

Everyone’s favourite Aisling is back and this time, she’s taking New York City by storm with her antics.

After the success of the wedding of the century at Ballygobbard that she helped organise, Aisling has been headhunted by an event planner in New York, who wants Aisling to bring her A game organisational skills to help win an election. Leaving the quiet, country life behind Aisling finds herself reconnecting with family and new Irish friends and an Italian fireman who’s really ignited a fire in Aisling.

I love the Aisling series, in a world of disruption and fear, she brings hope and light with her personality and unique ways. And in this latest book, we see her step out of her comfort zone and really push herself and prove once again that nothing is beyond her capability. She makes friends along the way, with her charming ways and it’s heartwarming to see her engage with the Irish community and how they all gravitate towards each other. Her interactions with her new bae, Jeff make for entertaining and charming reading as they get to know each other and how easily they fall into each other’s lives. And even though, Aisling her moved on, her first love John is always there in her thoughts and it seems that’s the same for him, as they continue to stay in touch. Whilst she finds her footing in her new powerful job, Aisling finds herself coming across a multitude of clashes and personalities and each time, she wins them over with her Irish charm and unique ways.

As this book is set in the present, the authors made reference to the pandemic but they did it in their own style which made for lighter reading and was a welcome distraction to the current disaster.

I genuinely love the Aisling series, she’s a woman who’s relatable, fun and sensible and her ways of behaving, communicating and the situations make for very heartwarming reading. Even though, Aisling is living the wild life in New York, her heart belongs to Ballygoggard and her continued communication back home with Majella and her mother makes for even more fun reading.

With an ending that left me Bollygobsmacked, Aisling is back with a bang. Filled with fun, drama and Aisling’s dry wit, ‘Aisling And The City’ was impossible to put down!

You can buy ‘Aisling And The City’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.